Exferd is developing a new program called CAPP - Curriculum Advising and Program Planning - that will create automated access to students' program information, including how close they are to completing their degree and what required courses they still need to take.

"It's an advising tool, ... a way of tracking students' programs in an automated way," Exferd said.

The new system will improve turnaround time for student requests and ease the workload on university staff, Exferd said. Under the current system Exferd compiles the reports by hand, spending an average of 20 minutes per request.

That creates a backlog of work that hinders other duties, and students may have to wait for weeks to receive their report - something CAPP will change.

"When the audit system is built, anyone who needs to can request an audit for any program," Exferd said, explaining that the turnaround time should be less than 24 hours.

Exferd said the CAPP system will improve advising and "change the way (students) understand their programs."

"For students, they'll have a quicker response and be able to experiment with different degrees" by seeing how their credits match up to degree requirements, Exferd said. That will be particularly useful to transfer students seeking to find which program will give them the most credit for previous course work.

Exferd's work in developing CAPP at UAS primarily will involve entering degree program requirements into the system. CAPP works by matching student records, which already are automated, with the requirements.

The CAPP system is in place at the University of Alaska's Anchorage and Fairbanks campuses, and similar automated systems can be found at many universities in the Lower 48.

"It's a long time in coming," Exferd said. "There's a lot of support on campus to have this program up and running."

After launching CAPP, Exferd will take a position in academic advising - where she started on campus five years ago. Her resignation as registrar is effective June 30, and a national search will be conducted for her replacement.